13 Quotes About Discipline & Self-Control
Freedom, the Stoics insisted, is the child of discipline — not its enemy. These quotes are about the small daily acts of self-government that compound into a life.
“Without doubt, the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can be controlled by practice and by dispassion.”
“You can keep going for years on willpower and caffeine. The body keeps the score, and one day it sends the bill. Pay the smaller bill now.”
“The mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by practice.”
“The strawberry, the blue solar water, the dewdrop — these are tools the Unihipili likes. They are not the practice. The practice is the willingness to clean.”
“Discipline equals freedom.”
“Front-load the suck. Do the hardest thing first while willpower is highest. The day rolls downhill from there.”
“There is timing in everything. Timing in strategy cannot be mastered without a great deal of practice.”
“A man is what he repeatedly does. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
“When you breathe in, you take in someone else's pain. When you breathe out, you send out relief. The practice is about reversing the habit of avoidance.”
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
“Discipline is not pleasing the teacher; it is keeping the work in your own hands.”
“In meditation, do not look for a particular kind of experience. The point of the practice is to be present to whatever arises.”
“I sing because I cannot remember a time before I sang. The practice has eaten my life. The life has eaten the practice. There is no separation.”